Sounds like the problem is your room and not the amp. Boominess comes from the room reinforcing certain notes while canceling others. Moving it off the floor will help with the cavity under the floor. Lining the walls with curtains can also help.
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Fender Rumble 500 combo too boomy/muddy at home...
- Thread starter Vinnie Boombatz
- Start date
Exact about room tones. The smaller the room, the more problematic, as room modes or standing waves appear. Have you tried changing your seat or walk in the room as playing? Does the problem occurs at some specific notes? Curtains absorb a little at higher frequencies and wont help. Corner bass traps will.
Hollow wood floor can also boost at its natural frequency.
Hollow wood floor can also boost at its natural frequency.
Yeah I just got a Rumble 500 as well; finding the same deep muddiness. My band liked it that way. I found a happy place by turning up treble and mid treble to about 75%; lowering bass to 50%; and switching on the horn. I would still prefer that power with an Ampeg tone, so I am searching. But I love the 34 pound weight of the Rumble!!! It's an awesome performer and will fill most local venues. Tone improves with active pickups.
Your space is reflecting all the lows that's why it's so boomy in your room vs. the store! A Gramma is a start but will not solve the issue, you can buy a lesser low end combo/head,cab but you'll still have to deal with the boomy sound in your room. The only real option is to either play on headphones while at home or treat your room with sound protection or whatever they call it nowadays.
1st off get you amp up off the floor put it on some milk crates at the very least. Secondly make sure your away from walls. 1st point reflections and second point reflections should be taken care of immediately! 1st point-the closest wall, 2nd point-would most likely be behind you. But each of these can change on the room, and where you position the amp vs. where you stand/sit(listening position). If one of these things changes the tone/sound changes unless your room is perfect, which is very very very expensive!
Take a look at this pic. The red bouncing off the walls is 1st point reflections. The blue bouncing off the back wall is 2nd point reflections. But this pic is based on the back wall being farther away no what's in the pic. The back wall is really 1st point, 2nd is the side walls, and 3rd is the back walls. Anyway the most important ones in a small room like yours would be in front of speaker and behind I think. Have to see pics of your room tbh and what you have in your room! The more objects in the room that would absorb sound the better, ex:bed, couch, bookshelves with books on them.
No mirrors(they are reflective).
So after you elevate your amp up off the ground put it close to the center of the room and have the speaker point at a couch or bed or something like that. Then come back and tell me how the sound changed. Is it less boomy but more reflective now, or do you hear no change, is it worse, now is the treble overbearing, does it sound like there's a slight touch of reverb on your stuff, etc.
Your space is reflecting all the lows that's why it's so boomy in your room vs. the store! A Gramma is a start but will not solve the issue, you can buy a lesser low end combo/head,cab but you'll still have to deal with the boomy sound in your room. The only real option is to either play on headphones while at home or treat your room with sound protection or whatever they call it nowadays.
1st off get you amp up off the floor put it on some milk crates at the very least. Secondly make sure your away from walls. 1st point reflections and second point reflections should be taken care of immediately! 1st point-the closest wall, 2nd point-would most likely be behind you. But each of these can change on the room, and where you position the amp vs. where you stand/sit(listening position). If one of these things changes the tone/sound changes unless your room is perfect, which is very very very expensive!
Take a look at this pic. The red bouncing off the walls is 1st point reflections. The blue bouncing off the back wall is 2nd point reflections. But this pic is based on the back wall being farther away no what's in the pic. The back wall is really 1st point, 2nd is the side walls, and 3rd is the back walls. Anyway the most important ones in a small room like yours would be in front of speaker and behind I think. Have to see pics of your room tbh and what you have in your room! The more objects in the room that would absorb sound the better, ex:bed, couch, bookshelves with books on them.
No mirrors(they are reflective).
So after you elevate your amp up off the ground put it close to the center of the room and have the speaker point at a couch or bed or something like that. Then come back and tell me how the sound changed. Is it less boomy but more reflective now, or do you hear no change, is it worse, now is the treble overbearing, does it sound like there's a slight touch of reverb on your stuff, etc.
That's not to say that the Rumble is not boomy, it is a little, but if you liked the sound of it in the store and not at home I guarantee your room needs some treatment! You might be able to fix it with some eq'ing(buying a parametric eq pedal like Empress ParaEq, or rack mount parametric eq, but your still gonna have some minor problems that no amount of eq'ing can fix. I saw you wanted to get an HPF pedal, which is always wise. I got a Boughton HPF pedal and it does cut down on the mud and works great. You should get one regardless, but in this case I still think your room needs treatment, and the pedal will only chip away at the problem not solve it. Like I said though I could be wrong, I'm not in your room hearing it, and I have no idea how your room is set up. Would be able to help more if you had recordings of your room, and full panoramic pics of your room.
Have you tried putting it( amp ) on the Couch or in a Chair? To Isolate the Sound, l have to do that when l Reherse or Record at my house. Don't know what else to Tell you my Friend. Best of Luck. John B.
Me again, what size is your Speaker in the Fender Rumble Combo, just Curious! John B.
I have two Genz Benz Amps(2) Shuttles 90's and (1) Shuttle 30.(1) Neo-X 212 Cab and a C-4 Cab by Phil Jones. Plus 4 other Bass Riggs. Don't want to Bore Everybody. I have enough though to Mix and Match. But my Main Rig is the 212XL Genz Benz Cab. W/ Shuttle 90(900)watts awesome sound. It's like a(215) cab, not 212's. 37Hz at -3db. Incredible!
Your space is reflecting all the lows that's why it's so boomy in your room vs. the store! A Gramma is a start but will not solve the issue, you can buy a lesser low end combo/head,cab but you'll still have to deal with the boomy sound in your room. The only real option is to either play on headphones while at home or treat your room with sound protection or whatever they call it nowadays.
1st off get you amp up off the floor put it on some milk crates at the very least. Secondly make sure your away from walls. 1st point reflections and second point reflections should be taken care of immediately! 1st point-the closest wall, 2nd point-would most likely be behind you. But each of these can change on the room, and where you position the amp vs. where you stand/sit(listening position). If one of these things changes the tone/sound changes unless your room is perfect, which is very very very expensive!
Take a look at this pic. The red bouncing off the walls is 1st point reflections. The blue bouncing off the back wall is 2nd point reflections. But this pic is based on the back wall being farther away no what's in the pic. The back wall is really 1st point, 2nd is the side walls, and 3rd is the back walls. Anyway the most important ones in a small room like yours would be in front of speaker and behind I think. Have to see pics of your room tbh and what you have in your room! The more objects in the room that would absorb sound the better, ex:bed, couch, bookshelves with books on them.
No mirrors(they are reflective).
So after you elevate your amp up off the ground put it close to the center of the room and have the speaker point at a couch or bed or something like that. Then come back and tell me how the sound changed. Is it less boomy but more reflective now, or do you hear no change, is it worse, now is the treble overbearing, does it sound like there's a slight touch of reverb on your stuff, etc.
This approach is true for higher frequencies as sound behave like rays. In lower frequencies sound behave like waves. What is important is room dimensions and dimensions ratios. Yes you are subject to hear more bass in the room corners or near walls. To know if you have a standing wave problem, play while changing place in the room. Also look if the problem occurs at specific notes. If it does, you need bass trapping.
I have taken bits and pieces of what everyone have recommended and have had pretty good success so far. Of course I have tried multiple placements of the amp, as those who have suggested, and this is one of the first things I tried even before posting this thread. The next best thing that helped was getting the am pup off the ground. Put it on a furniture dolly with wheels, and although it was only a few inches it was noticeable, and once it was up and not really coupled with the floor I then could hear changes I made with the EQ! Before it was just rumble (but not in a good way). I did get a Gramma pad and that seems to also help, maybe the same as the furniture dolly, but I'll keep the Gramma pad and tote it to rehearsals and see if it comes in handy in that situation. After receiving it though, and not complaining, just making an observation, you really could make on of these yourself with some materials you may have around the house, or with some creativity, a cheap piece of indoor/outdoor carpet, piece of plywood, staple gun and some thigh, dense foam for pennies not he dollar. It for sure helped with the coupling as well because whenever I'd start playing my amp, my dog would get up and leave the room, my guess if because the floor would vibrate and drive her nuts, but with the pad or the amp lifted it doesn't seem to bug her as much.
Another observation I found was putting a piece of sponge under the strings at the bridge. I did this just to get a more muted, Motown sound (sounds awesome with the P bass and flats, btw!) and I'm guessing because it killed a lot of the notes' sustain they weren't overlapping and competing as much, and that's resulted in things sounding better in my small place as well.
As others have noted, 99% sure it[s not the amp, and anything I use in this small space given the size, shape and hard, reflective surfaces will do the same thing. I'm happy with the things I've don't to reduce the issue. I don't play loud at home. If it was a spot where I was playing louder or rehearsing with a band I'd look into treating theorem and the surfaces, but definitely not necessary at this point.
Another observation I found was putting a piece of sponge under the strings at the bridge. I did this just to get a more muted, Motown sound (sounds awesome with the P bass and flats, btw!) and I'm guessing because it killed a lot of the notes' sustain they weren't overlapping and competing as much, and that's resulted in things sounding better in my small place as well.
As others have noted, 99% sure it[s not the amp, and anything I use in this small space given the size, shape and hard, reflective surfaces will do the same thing. I'm happy with the things I've don't to reduce the issue. I don't play loud at home. If it was a spot where I was playing louder or rehearsing with a band I'd look into treating theorem and the surfaces, but definitely not necessary at this point.
So just throwing this out there.... I live in a first floor apartment so 150W Harley Benton would be too boomy indoors and totally p*** off the neighbours so for studio and gigs I use the Harley on a dolly and set according to the venue but use a black star fly for home practice. Hope you find your happy spot, good luck!
Resonant frequencies of the room...basically your cottage is a big, unturned speaker box.
This was always my issue with that amp. Sounds good, but gets muddy in many rooms. I use a Phil Jones or Bergantino these days, prefer Phil Jones. It's a lot less boomy in most rooms.
If you're not willing to build an acoustically ambivalent studio to play in, just buy one of every bass amps available at all price ranges. You're bound to find one or more that you like.
I do this all day long (messing around with combo placement , height, direction, putting things like rubber and carpet underneath it....the list goes on.
EQ'ing amp, EQ'ing bass, using external added Eq plus compression, etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc.....
Room acoustics are the culprit I think. Because when I listen to the same basses through the headphone input in my combo, they sound different and nicer.
I have a GKmb112ii with the added powered extra cab. I almost never use the extra cab (just bought it in case I go gigging).
I just use the 1x12 combo part by itself.
It's amazing how you can change high or low tone by moving the cab around and doing everything mentioned in above posts.
I can go from thunderous low end to very little low end by doing those things. And vice-versa:- loads of top end or very little top end.
Still haven't got the tone back that I want.
Which is weird ....because I used to have a tone that was quite satisfactory.
It wasn't broke but I started to fix it anyway. Now I can't get it back for love nor money.
EQ'ing amp, EQ'ing bass, using external added Eq plus compression, etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc.....
Room acoustics are the culprit I think. Because when I listen to the same basses through the headphone input in my combo, they sound different and nicer.
I have a GKmb112ii with the added powered extra cab. I almost never use the extra cab (just bought it in case I go gigging).
I just use the 1x12 combo part by itself.
It's amazing how you can change high or low tone by moving the cab around and doing everything mentioned in above posts.
I can go from thunderous low end to very little low end by doing those things. And vice-versa:- loads of top end or very little top end.
Still haven't got the tone back that I want.
Which is weird ....because I used to have a tone that was quite satisfactory.
It wasn't broke but I started to fix it anyway. Now I can't get it back for love nor money.
Fender have always been known for a strong bottom end, but your problem is resonance. Keep your Rumble 3ft away from walls, especially corners, and then if necessary off the floor. Your hollow floor is acting like a big echo chamber. A 12" combo may have been a better choice (for your cottage), but you'll get less 'Rumble' from your Rumble if it's away from resonating surfaces.